against that backdrop, president obama announced tuesday that the u.s. will now formally recognize the syrian opposition movement. >> we've made a decision that the syrian opposition coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the syrian population, >> ifill: hours later, the friends of syria meeting in marrakech, morocco took the same step. the u.s. became one of 114 nations to endorse the syrian national council created just last month under international pressure. deputy secretary of state william burns: >> in a growing number of towns and villages, a new syria is being born, the regime of bashar al assad must and will go, the sooner he steps aside the better for all syrians. >> ifill: despite showing signs last week of a possible shift in russia's position, the decision did not go down well in moscow, which opposes outside action against the assad regime. foreign minister sergei lavrov: >> ( translated ): as the coalition has been recognized as the only legitimate representative, it seems that the united states decid